Summary

After it enters the sound, the Volunteer is anchored to the southern tip of the exposed land mass, and Cavendish orders the crew to begin erection of hand-powered ice saws. Eight crewmen are required for the upward thrust of the steel blade and another four to execute the downward cut. As the men labor in Chapter 16, Cavendish keeps an eye on the advancing ice sheet that threatens to freeze everyone and everything in its path.

One of the men sets off gunpowder explosions under the ice to clear the ship's path to the dock. Once the path is cleared, the men tug the ship into its ice harbor and anchor it to the ice floe. Sumner takes tea and laudanum during a break as the thunderous sound of ice floes joining together splits the northern sky. Once the ship is locked into place...